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Saturday, 19 March 2016

I’ve not yet pre-ordered
Total War: Warhammer as I’m still waiting to see more non-scripted
campaign and battle footage. But I do like what I’ve seen so far.
One of my main concerns, however, is how the Battle AI will adapt to
the new magic system.

Total War has had ‘magic’
abilities of a sort for some time – buff and de-buff abilities to
boost friendly unit morale or apply morale penalties to enemy units.
But it’s always been somewhat rare to see the Battle AI make
effective use of these skills. So how will the AI in Total War:
Warhammer cope with an expanded system of varying magical buffs,
de-buffs and offensive spells?

We’ve already seen
through a few videos how effective magic can be – how it can turn
the tide of battle in your favour if used at the appropriate time
against the appropriate unit. But, until recently, we’ve not seen
any clear indication of how effective the Battle AI will be at
handling magic – at understanding how and when to use it.

That changed during a Total
War: Warhammer live stream as part of the Vampire Counts reveal in which we see the AI make surprisingly effective use of the
magic at its disposal. You can view a recording of
the stream here - https://www.twitch.tv/totalwarofficial/v/55138239

At various times throughout
the stream you can clearly see the AI applying magic buffs to its
units. A great example is at 01:35:00, when the AI buffs a unit of
goblins in pursuit of the player’s heavy cavalry.

At 01:24:00, the player
attempts to flank behind the enemy with three units of dire wolves,
but the AI uses magic to effectively wipe out all three units before
they can even reach its lines. We don’t know which spells are used,
but we see at least three separate casts targeting the wolves,
including a de-buff effect.

At 01:06:40, we see the AI
target the player’s cavalry with an offensive spell. It then
immediately buffs two units of spears on its flank to counter the
enemy charge.

Obviously, we can’t make
any firm judgements about the Battle AI and how it will cope with the
new magic system on such limited content, but what little I’ve seen does
appear promising. In many ways, I’d argue the AI used its magic far
more effectively than the player in these battles, and it will always
have the advantage of being able to target and apply these spells
much faster than a normal human player.

The question is whether it
can target and apply these spells appropriately – at the most
effective place at the most effective time. So far, at least, it
seems that it can, and that’s gone some way to alleviating my
concerns.

Thursday, 17 March 2016

Vanquish is your fairly
standard, cover based third person shooter. As you’d expect from
such a title, you must advance through a series of linear
environments, tackling set waves of enemies before waiting for the
next checkpoint to trigger. This is followed by a plot progressing
cut-scene. Boss fights are sprinkled throughout, some of which are
repeated with the addition of a challenging twist.

The core gameplay consists
of a cover based system, allowing you to blind fire or snap out of
cover and aim. You can also vault over cover and roll to avoid fire.
There’s a ‘slow-motion’ mechanic which you can manually
activate, but which will also automatically activate at low health.
You can carry three weapons in addition to two grenade types. You
also have a basic melee attack.

So far, so generic, right?
But Vanquish isn’t your typical cover based third person shooter.
No. It’s a Platinum
Games
cover based third person shooter. And what does that mean? It means
that whilst many of the elements of Vanquish are exactly as you’d
expect for this genre, all of it is dialled up to 11. No, make that
12.

Many games tend to ease the
player in. They build pace as they go. Not Vanquish. Vanquish is
balls to the wall from the moment you begin and it never lets up.
It’s a hard game to pull yourself away from. There’s very little
to no downtime or ‘quiet’ moments during or between combat
sections. Vanquish isn’t the longest game – only 4-5 hours on the
default difficulty – but every single second is pretty damn
fantastic.

The action is fast and
frenetic. Cover is actually rarely used, as mobility is key. Whereas
many similar cover based shooters tend to be more of a slow plod from
point A to B, Vanquish is a mad dash with rocket boots. You can
perform a powered ‘slide’ across the environments, during which
you can shoot and activate your slow-motion ability.

Your boosting and
slow-motion does have a cost, however, and its energy reserve must
recharge. It can also overheat through over-use, leaving you
vulnerable. It’s important to manage the use of this energy and use
it to your advantage at the appropriate time. This is where a little
strategy and timing becomes involved on the battlefield.

But the more you become
accustomed to using the boost and slow-motion abilities and their
associated cost, the more effective you’ll become, zipping about
the battle and taking down multiple foes without taking so much as a
scratch. It may sound easy, but on higher difficulties Vanquish will
give you a run for your money – you really have to manage your
energy usage efficiently if you want to survive.

Being a Platinum Games
title, Vanquish has the kind of ridiculous, over the top story and
characters you’d expect. You play as Sam Gideon, a special
operative of DARPA on a mission to stop an evil Russian guy from
firing a giant laser and destroying New York City. It’s silly,
forgettable nonsense, but it will make you smile.

There’s a decent
selection of weapons ranging from the standard assault rifle, shotgun
and sniper rifle, to the more advanced lock-on laser and LFE gun. All
of these can be improved by collecting various upgrades, and all feel
satisfying to use thanks to some excellent audio and visual feedback.

Vanquish is looking a
little rough around the edges these days, but it’s still a very nice
looking game, with some great enemy design and variety. You’re
mostly fighting robots which come in all shapes and sizes. The
environments are fairly small and linear, but they do allow a degree
of freedom to flank behind an enemy position. And the game certainly
pushes itself (and the framerate) to the limit at times as hundreds
of missiles blast through the air, or giant lasers rip their way
through the scenery. Despite being a cover based shooter, you’ll
never want to sit in one place for too long and it’s actually
rather dangerous to do so.

There’s not much more I
can say about Vanquish. It may be somewhat short and limited in terms
of content, and it’s true that the gameplay never really evolves
beyond ‘go really fast and shoot a lot’, but what more does it
need? I suppose you could argue a few changes of pace wouldn’t have
been so bad, although it does regularly introduce new enemy types and
weapons, which helps keep you on your toes.

The ending feels a little
abrupt, and the final level and boss fight isn’t quite the exciting
climax you might hope for. I would have also preferred some mixing up
of the gameplay in terms of environments. There’s a great rotating
zero gravity section for example, and I would have liked a few more
unique situations like this.

I wouldn’t say Vanquish
is a title with a great deal of depth, although playing on the harder
settings does require a little more thought and strategy,
particularly in terms of managing your energy expenditure. It’s a
game which is a fun rush to play, and I don’t think it’s really
trying to be much more.

If I had to compare it to
another Platinum title in terms of gameplay, I’d say Metal Gear
Rising offers a combat system with more depth and scope to master.
Vanquish may be a little simpler, arguably more shallow, but
certainly no less ridiculously fun. Fun! Remember that?

Friday, 11 March 2016

Death Tank Zwei is a 2D
real time multiplayer game that was bundled as a bonus game in the
Sega Saturn version of Duke Nukem 3D. And as much as I enjoyed
playing Duke 3D, I actually spent far more time playing this bonus
game. In fact, Death Tank Zwei is probably the game I sunk more time
into than any other on the Saturn.

So what is it, and why is
it so good? It’s a 2-7 player free for all deathmatch game. Each
player controls a single ‘tank’ which is represented by a
different coloured block. The tanks are dropped at random onto the
map screen – a solid yellow terrain with a purple sky. Movement of
the tanks is slow and steady, but their range is limited somewhat by
the generated terrain, which creates all manner of varying dips and
hills.

The objective is to destroy
all other tanks. Each tank has a standard shot which reloads every
2-3 seconds and you can aim by adjusting a targeting arrow to
determine the angle of the shot and the range. The longer the match
goes on, the more the terrain lowers and flattens until it eventually
becomes a single plain.

By destroying enemy tanks,
you’ll earn money you can spend on additional weapons and upgrades
between rounds (and you can set how many rounds you want in a match,
anywhere from 5-200). These weapons include
things such as nukes, rolling mines, missiles, machine guns and my
personal favourite – the Death’s Head – a devastating cluster
bomb (although very embarrassing when you miss with it).

Obviously, the more
powerful the weapons and upgrades, the more they cost. So do you save
your money for the good stuff, or buy cheaper weapons to give you an
immediate edge? Other upgrades include a deflecting shield, an
explosive charge (which releases shrapnel on death, hopefully taking
the enemy out with you) and my other personal favourite – the jump
jets – which allow you to bounce across the battlefield. Weapons,
such as the nukes, will also degrade the environment, and can
actually be useful for punching a hole through terrain that may be
blocking your line of sight, or for creating your own cover.

So whilst Death Tank may
look like a rather simple game by its graphics, there’s actually a
lot of depth to its gameplay. Its short rounds and the escalation of
the conflict as heavy weapons come into play create an addictive and
very enjoyable multiplayer experience. I actually bought a Saturn
multi-tap just for this game, but I rarely got to use it.

I don’t think everyone
appreciated Death Tank as much as I did. It was all about the fancy
3D graphics back in 1997 and there I was raving about a 2D game with
a yellow map, a purple sky and various coloured blocks. Fortunately,
I wasn’t alone in my love for the game, as a friend and I both got
hooked and would spend hours battling one another. What else? The
game has a great intro theme which I still recall to this day,
as well as a fun little random ‘blitz round’ where all tanks can
fire repeatedly without the need to reload.

Death Tank Zwei is another
of my all time favourite games and simply one of the best games I’ve
ever played. It’s something I break out and play whenever I get the
chance. Just writing this post has made me want to play it again.
Unfortunately, I’ve got no one to play it with right now which kind
of sucks. DEATH TANK! DEATH TANK! DEATH TANK! YEAH!

Monday, 7 March 2016

Originally released on the
Sega Saturn in 1996, Dragon Force is a mixture of turn based strategy
and real time tactical battles. Set in the fantasy world of Legendra,
you begin your campaign by choosing one of eight factions. Your choice of faction
determines your start position on the campaign map, your Monarch and
your initial set of Generals.

Although the overall story
is the same regardless of faction, each faction has its own unique
story based cut-scenes and events. Each faction is also initially
tailored to a specific type of unit. There are ten different unit
types, ranging from the standard soldier and cavalry units, to the
more exotic zombie, dragon and harpy units.

The game is divided between
two modes – the real time campaign and the tactical battles. The
campaign map gives you an overview of Legendra, with your armies
represented by a single soldier based upon your Monarch. Each army
can contain up to five Generals, each of which can lead a single unit
of up to 100 troops. Movement on the campaign map is restricted to
set paths between villages and castles, the latter of which can be
occupied to expand your territory.

All of this might sound a
little like a Total War game. And in many ways, it is. In fact,
Dragon Force is probably the only reason I began playing Total War. I
never came across another strategy game which offered a similar set
up of turn based campaign and tactical battles until I saw the
original Shogun on sale.

But Dragon Force isn’t
quite the same. The campaign, although split into timed ‘turns’
(each representing a week) actually moves in real time (although it
can be paused to issue commands). So you really need to keep an eye
on what’s happening all across the map, as the AI factions advance,
retreat and occupy all at the same time.

When two opposing armies
meet (all factions are at war, there’s no diplomatic options or
alliances) you’ll enter a real time tactical battle. The enemy will
select one of their Generals to fight. Each General has their own
level, stats and unit type. The player will then select a General of
their own to face them on the battlefield.

The battles, like the
campaign, are entirely 2D with sprite based units, animations and
effects. Before the battle you can set a unit formation (offence /
defence / raid / breach) and then issue commands when the battle
begins (advance / charge / disperse / hold). The two armies will
clash on the field, but the battle won’t be won until a General is
defeated or retreats.

Each General has their own
health bar and special skills which can turn the tide of battle to
their favour. They’re essentially ‘hero’ units, and fighting
battles will grant them experience enabling them to level up, grow
more powerful and learn new skills. But Generals alone won’t win
you battles. You’ll also need to select the right kind of troops.

Some unit types are more or
less effective depending on what type of unit they face. For example,
the monk unit absolutely destroys zombie units, but performs very
poorly against archers and dragons. Knowing how effective each unit
type will be against another is the key to victory. Which is also why
it’s important to build varied armies of multiple unit types.

Defeating a General and
capturing them will also give you the option to recruit them,
enabling you to build more armies and expand your territory more
rapidly. Occupying castles is important, as they serve to reinforce
your men from a growing pool of reserves. They also offer an
important terrain bonus depending on the level of the castle.

At the end of the every
turn, you’ll enter the ‘administration’ mode of Dragon Force.
This is where you’ll typically see story based events, but it’s
also where you’ll bestow awards upon your Generals (giving them
more troops to command), recruit more Generals from those you’ve
captured, fortify castles (to increase their level) and also search
castles for useful items such as weapons or stat boosts which can be
equipped to individual characters.

Regardless of which faction
you choose, this is how you’ll spend the first ‘half’ of Dragon
Force. You’ll be expanding across the campaign map, occupying
castles, recruiting new Generals, levelling up your Generals and
increasing their unit counts. Over time, you’ll destroy the other
factions, and once you’ve captured their Monarch, they’ll then
join your army.

I won’t get too much into
the story, but it’s fairly straightforward. There’s an evil God
and eight chosen heroes on a quest to defeat him. Eight heroes. Eight
faction Monarchs. Yeah, it’s not hard to figure out. And that’s
when Dragon Force takes a neat turn and transforms almost into a
traditional party based RPG.

Because once you’ve
conquered the entire map and all the other factions, you must then
embark on a quest with those eight heroes to recover certain items
which will help you defeat the evil God. This all builds to a final
showdown where you’ll face the evil God himself and destroy him.
It’s pretty cool.

Dragon Force still looks
and sounds great even today. And although the story is fairly
serious, there’s a lot of humour injected throughout thanks to the
varied characters. There’s also a lot of hidden / bonus content, as
certain characters will interact differently with others, and there
are also special Generals you can find by exploring certain
locations on the campaign map.

With each faction having
its own unique story based events, it makes playing each faction a
somewhat unique experience, at least in the early game. Oh, and one
thing I can’t not mention, although it is a little bit of a
spoiler, is the giant robot that crashes onto the campaign map and
starts tearing up your shit with lasers. No, I’m serious. There’s
a giant robot in this fantasy based game. It’s so bizarre,
especially when you have to recover a legendary magic sword to
destroy it.

Okay, so what about some
more negative aspects of Dragon Force? Well, I guess my main issue is
that it’s all a little too easy. The AI factions rarely consolidate
their forces in the same way you do, meaning it’s far too easy to
whittle an opposing faction down one General at a time. They also
never really expand beyond one or two extra castles, so once you’ve
absorbed 2 or 3 other factions, taking the rest of the map becomes a
matter of time rather than skill.

Something that always
irritated me is the re-spawning ‘evil’ Generals. There’s a pair
of them that reappear every 3-4 turns. They can prove troublesome
early on, but as they never grow more powerful, they become more of
an annoyance than a threat. You get some similar armies towards the
end game that keep reappearing, but that’s when things are wrapping
up so it’s not such an issue.

Overall, Dragon Force
remains an engaging and enjoyable title. It’s still fiendishly
addictive, and I’d often find myself playing ‘just one more turn’
of the campaign rather than quitting when I’d intended to. It’s a
shame I never got to play the sequel which was only released in
Japan. Dragon Force is one of the key games that got me into
strategy, and it’s the entire reason I began playing Total War. Not
just one of my all time favourite games, but one of the best, too.